System and method for locating and accessing wireless resources

ABSTRACT

A system and method are disclosed for locating resources available to portable electronic devices which are enabled for short range wireless communications. The system and method include creating and accessing a resource and access location history database accessible via the portable electronic device.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.11/809,198, filed May 31, 2007, which is a continuation of U.S.application Ser. No. 11/540,909, filed Sep. 29, 2006, which is acontinuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/870,311, filed May 30,2001, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,266,379, all of which are incorporated hereinby reference in their entireties.

BACKGROUND

Handheld computing devices, “palmtops,” “palmhelds,” personal digitalassistants (PDAs), or handheld computers typically weigh less than apound and fit in a pocket. These handhelds generally provide somecombination of personal information management, database functions, wordprocessing, and spreadsheets as well as voice memo recording, wirelesse-mail, and wireless telephony functions.

Handheld computers may include hardware modules which allow a user toaccess and communicate wirelessly with both wired and wirelesscommunications networks. Such networks may include Local Area Networks(LANs) and Personal Area Networks (PANs).

Technologies such as Bluetooth and IEEE 802.11 provide a means toconnect mobile devices to a communications network, however they do notspecifically address many problems that need to be solved to provide apreferred user experience.

One of the main difficulties of short range wireless devices such asBluetooth or 802.11 is that the coverage area of each transmitter isrelatively small. Short range wireless technology enables Personal AreaNetworks (PAN) in which small network is formed sharing resources inlocalized space. PANs are extremely effective for adhoc networks withstationary components (for example an office), or where all componentsmove together (cell phone, PDA, and other mobile devices all attached toa user). A major difficulty of PAN technology is the interaction ofmobile and stationary devices. In conventional systems, users of mobiledevices do not maintain any records relating to the location of wirelessaccess points or wirelessly enabled devices. Further, mobile devices arenot configured to maintain records of the location of access points togain access to various resources.

Accordingly, there is a need for a mobile device that is configured torecord the location of access points and available resources associatedwith that location as it moves around. There is also a need for a mobiledevice that accesses a database when a resource is needed, which is nolonger accessible at the mobile devices current location, and the mobiledevice is informed of one or more locations where the resource isavailable. Further, there is a need for a navigation application thatmay be used to direct the mobile device to a location where a particularresource is available.

Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a system and/or methodthat provides one or more of these or other advantageous features. Otherfeatures and advantages will be made apparent from the presentspecification. The teachings disclosed extend to those embodiments whichfall within the scope of the appended claims, regardless of whether theyaccomplish one or more of the above-mentioned needs.

SUMMARY

An exemplary embodiment relates to a system for locating access towireless resources. The system includes a portable electronic deviceincluding a short range radio frequency (RF) transceiver. The systemalso includes a database program running on the portable electronicdevice, the database program is configured to store a history ofwireless station information and available resource information, thewireless station information is representative of wireless stationscoming in communications with the short range RF transceiver as theportable electronic device is being moved through an environment, andthe available resource information is correlated with the wirelessstation information and the available resource information isrepresentative of the resources available through the wireless stations.

Another exemplary embodiment relates to a method of locating access toresources in an environment. The method includes roaming within anenvironment with a portable electronic device having a short range radiofrequency (RF) transceiver. The method also includes scanning forwireless enabled devices within range of the RF transceiver of theportable device. Further, the method includes storing wireless stationinformation relating to the wireless enabled devices in a database, andstoring available resource information relating to the resourcesavailable through the wireless station in the database. Further still,the method relates to accessing, on the portable electronic device, thedatabase including the wireless station information and the availableresource information.

Yet another exemplary embodiment relates to a method of locating accessto resources in an environment. The method includes moving through anenvironment with a portable electronic device having a short range radiofrequency (RF) transceiver. The method also includes receivinginformation relating to wirelessly accessible resources. Further, themethod includes storing the information in a database on the device, andaccessing the database information according to a specific query.

Alternative exemplary embodiments relate to other features andcombination of features as may be generally recited in the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will become more fully understood from the followingdetailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements, inwhich:

FIG. 1 is an exemplary front elevation view of a handheld computer;

FIG. 2 is an exemplary schematic diagram of an environment includingwirelessly accessible resources; and

FIG. 3 is an exemplary schematic diagram of a metropolitan environmentincluding areas of wireless accessibility.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

Referring to FIG. 1, a handheld computer 100 is depicted according to anexemplary embodiment. Handheld computer 100 may include Palm stylecomputers manufactured by Palm, Inc., of Santa Clara, Calif. Otherexemplary embodiments may include Windows CE handheld computers, orother handheld computers and personal digital assistants, as well asmobile telephones, pagers, and other mobile computing devices.

Preferably, handheld computer 100 includes interactive hardware andsoftware that performs functions such as maintaining calendars, phonelists, task lists, note pads, calculator applications, spreadsheets,games, video files, and other applications capable of running on acomputing device. Further, handheld computer 100 may be configured forsuch functions as voice memo recording and playback as well ascommunications network connectivity, Internet connectivity, wirelessmessaging, e-mail, always-on e-mail, and wireless telephony.

Handheld computer 100, depicted in FIG. 1, includes a plurality of inputfunction keys 112 and a display 114 having graphical user interfacefeatures. Display 114 may be provided with a touch screen interface thatallows a user to select and alter displayed content using a pointer,such as but not limited to a stylus, a pen tip, a fingertip, or otherpointing devices.

Referring again to FIG. 1, in an exemplary embodiment, display 114 alsoincludes a Graffiti (or other handwriting recognition software) writingsection 118 for tracing alpha-numeric characters as input. A pluralityof input icons 116 for performing automated or preprogrammed functionsmay be provided on a portion of display 114.

In an exemplary embodiment, handheld computer 100 may include anintegrated antenna 120 configured to transmit and receive wirelesscommunication signals, such as, but not limited to, cellular telephonecommunication signals and other radio frequency (RF) communicationssignals using an RF transceiver. Antenna 120 may further include anindicator light 122 integrated into antenna 120 for indicating thetransmission and reception of wireless communication signals. Further,light 122 may be used to indicate other states of handheld computer 100.Further, handheld computer 100 may include a wireless transceiver, suchas a Bluetooth transceiver or an IEEE 802.11 standard transceiver, orother RF or wireless transceiver, such that handheld computer 100 isconfigured to communicate with other nearby devices and/or access pointsto a communications link.

In an exemplary embodiment, handheld computer 100 also includesnavigation buttons 124 that may be utilized for navigating or scrollingof information displayed on display 114. Further, navigation buttons 124may be programmed for other uses depending on the application running onhandheld computer 100. Handheld computer 100 may be used for any of avariety of wireless communications, including, but not limited to,communications with the World Wide Web, mobile telephone communications,e-mail communications, etc.

In an exemplary embodiment, a system is used to store information aboutwireless resources detected through short range wireless technologiessuch as IEEE 802.11 or Bluetooth. Such a system may be a part ofproviding a preferred user experience in using portable electronicdevices with access to wirelessly accessible resources. The ability tolocate wireless services which are nearby may be important in areas withspotty coverage, or multiple short range resources. For example, suchenvironments include, but are not limited to an office environment (seeFIG. 2), a corporate or academic campus environment, a shopping mall orshopping area environment or a metropolitan area (see FIG. 3).

In order to enable such a system which provides wireless accessibilityto various resources, and stores the information in a database on theportable device, a preferred embodiment may maintain the following:

1. The system may work with any location determinization methodincluding (but not limited to):

-   -   a. Global Positioning System (GPS)    -   b. Network enhanced GPS    -   c. Base station proximity    -   d. Triangulation    -   e. Time difference    -   f. And others

2. The system may be technology independent (i.e., work with Bluetooth,802.11, or any other short range wireless technology)

3. Filtering of resources may be supported.

4. Compression of recorded information.

5. Removal of old records.

6. Detection of moved resources.

7. The system may be able to work with different radio characteristics(signal strength, antennas, sensitivity).

8. The system may be able to work with a map system, to providenavigation.

Referring now to FIG. 2, a general environment 200 is depicted.Environment 200 includes a plurality of wirelessly accessible devices,including, but not limited to access points 210, 212 and 214. Each ofaccess points 210, 212 and 214 have a coverage region 211, 213, and 215associated respectively therewith. Coverage areas 211, 213 and 215 areareas in which a device, such as a portable electronic device 220equipped with a wireless transceiver, such as but not limited to an IEEE802.11 or Bluetooth transceiver, is able to communicate with the accesspoint which also includes a compatible transceiver (or transmitter)therein. Access points (APs) 210, 212, and 214 may be coupled to any ofa plurality of resources generally depicted as resources 230. Resources230 may be any of a variety of types of information resources, such as,but not limited to access to a communications network, the Internet, anIntranet, a local area network (LAN), a single computer havinginformation stored thereon, and the like. Access points 210, 212, and214 may be coupled to the same resources 230 or alternatively may becoupled to different and separate resources. Further, other deviceswithin environment 200 may exist, for example, a printer 240, a faxmachine 250, and various other types of devices having wireless access.Each of devices 240 and 250 include their respective wireless coverageareas 241 and 251, respectively. In an exemplary embodiment, portabledevice 220, which may be, but are not limited to, a handheld computer, alaptop computer, a cellular telephone, or any of a variety of otherportable electronic devices, include a database of resources and theirlocations.

The database stores information associated with both wireless stations(i.e. wireless transmitters) detected (such as APs 210, 212, 214 etc.),and resources (such as resources 230, printer 240, FAX 250, etc.)available through wireless stations. Any specific wireless station mayhave multiple resources associated with it, and likewise each resourcemay be available through multiple wireless stations (see, e.g., FIG. 2).In an exemplary embodiment, the following information, among otherpossible information, may be in the database:

-   -   Wireless station information        -   Wireless technology (Bluetooth, 802.11, etc.)        -   Address (MAC address)        -   Location information            -   Location            -   Error            -   Location determination method        -   Resources associated with wireless station        -   Timestamp (last detection)    -   Resource information        -   Resource identifier        -   Resource description. This description is used to describe            the resource. It may be used in searching for particular            resources.        -   Keywords        -   Attributes in an object oriented data description        -   Tags        -   Associated wireless stations        -   Timestamp (last detection)

The location of a wireless station is an important part of the database.One important issue is the resolution of measurements in the system, andthe location determination. If the resolution is too fine grain, thedatabase may become two large, and the coverage areas disjoint. If theresolution is too coarse, the results may be ambiguous and not useful.Accordingly, the following characteristics may be considered indeveloping the system:

-   -   Location accuracy    -   Variance in signal strengths (or coverage areas) of mobile        devices.    -   The physical environment        -   A typical measurement may include:    -   Location    -   Signal strength    -   Resources.

In an exemplary embodiment, there may be multiple ways in which thelocation information may be stored, including but not limited to thefollowing:

-   -   Store all recorded measurements. This is the simplest solution,        but is not practical for reasons of memory requirements, and        slow/complex searching algorithms.    -   Store estimated location of wireless stations and radius of        coverage. This allows us only to store where the wireless        station is thought to be. The aggregate x, y, z values are used        to allow additional measurements to be inserted. No signal        strength is used or stored.        -   Point and radius        -   Number of measurements        -   Aggregate x, y, x coordinates    -   Boundary of coverage area. Allows for non-symmetrical radiation        patterns to be considered which may be significant for many        environments. Requires more complex searching algorithms.        -   Polygon. The polygon represents a non-circular (or            spherical) coverage area. The shape of the polygon is            determined by analysis of multiple measurements.

When a resource is desired by a user of a portable device, such asdevice 220, a user initiates a query or a search for the desiredresource accessible within environment 200. The search algorithm isresponsible for finding the closest resource station to mobile device's220 current location. An exemplary input and output to a query mayinclude but is not limited to the following:

-   -   Input:    -   Current location (may be supplied automatically via any number        of locating mechanisms, such as but not limited to GPS)    -   Desired resource        -   Preferences (optional)    -   Selection criteria        -   Closest, last encountered, etc.        -   Output:    -   Location where resources can be accessed        -   Algorithm:    -   Search through the database and find a location where the        specified resource may be accessed. This involved first matching        the specified resource with those in the database. The matches        are then compared to find the closest (or other selection        criteria). Further other searching and matching algorithms may        be used.

In a particular exemplary embodiment, the database collectinginformation may become too large for a memory limited mobile device(such as a handheld computer). Methods to account for a large databaseinclude, but are not limited to the following:

-   -   Compressing the database (discussed above)    -   Removing entries. Filtering out less likely to be queried        resources. Also filtering out similar entries (e.g., discard        additional color printers once one is located)    -   Filtering based on user preferences    -   Splitting the database. Splitting the database into regions        based on geography. Does not reduce memory consumptions, but        makes database more manageable.    -   Storing the database off device. The database (or certain        entries) could be removed from the memory of the mobile device        and placed in secondary memory (attached memory cards, disks,        etc), or stored on a network based memory (database or entries        transferred through wireless network to a remote sites.

Further, in an exemplary embodiment it may also be possible for themobile device user to specify filters used in recording information andresources. The filters may be used to reduce the amount of informationstored.

In order to save storage space on the handheld device or related storagemedium continuous and/or periodic database maintenance may be desired.For example, in a preferred exemplary embodiment database maintenance iscarried out by removing records from the database. Records from thedatabase may be removed when:

-   -   They expire. The timestamp is past a user specified retention        time.    -   The wireless station moves. When a recording shows no wireless        station is present, where it once was detected, the record may        be removed.    -   The resource is no longer available. When the mobile device        detects that a resource is no longer available through a still        present wireless station.    -   The mobile user requests manual deletion.    -   A wireless station is detected where it was not present before.

Consider a mobile device 220 within an office complex generallyrepresented by environment 200 of FIG. 2. The mobile device may have aBluetooth transceiver in it. The mobile device is continually scanningfor other Bluetooth devices.

When another Bluetooth device is detected (e.g., printer 240) the deviceis queried using a service discovery protocol to see what resources areavailable. The following information may be recorded: current location,MAC address of detected device/BT identifier, and a list of availableresources at this location. The recorded information is then added tothe history database including an entry made for printer 240 and currentlocation of printer 240 is added.

When the mobile device moves out of range of printer 240, the followinginformation is recorded: current location, a MAC address of detecteddevice, and a list of available resources at this location. The recordedinformation is added to the history database. The history databaseinformation associated with printer 240 is analyzed.

When mobile device 220 is queried for the location of a printer, thehistory database is queried for a location of a printer, and the currentlocation is supplied. The history database responds with a locationmatching the preferences (in this case defaults, closest physical). Thehistory database may open up a graphical navigation tool to direct themobile device to the resource location. The navigational tool may be acomplex mapping system or a simple bit map based diagram with relativelocations superimposed or further may be a stated location or a textuallisting of directions.

In an exemplary embodiment, the mobile user may wish to save thedatabase for future use (this could be an automatic process or manual).When he moves to a new environment, a new database is created. When hereturns to a previously visited environment, he may reload the databaseto be reminded where resources were available.

In another exemplary use of the invention, a mobile device may be turnedon for the first time in a corporate and/or academic campus. When inrange of a Bluetooth access point, a mobile device may download adatabase from the network with location of services identified. The userwould thus not need to roam around to find resources. If the user needsa printer, he may use the downloaded database to find the closestresource. If, however, a new resource is found, the database may beaugmented. If a resource is discovered missing, it may be removed fromthe database. The removal may not be immediate, depending upon thestability of the environment.

In a further exemplary embodiment, a metropolitan area 300 is depictedin FIG. 3. Metropolitan area 300 includes a plurality of commercial andcivic entities, including but not limited to restaurants 310 havingcoverage areas 311, stores 320 having coverage areas 321, police station330 having coverage area 331, and hospital 340 having coverage area 341.A mobile device 305 may be moving through metropolitan area 300. Asdevice 305 travels it occasionally picks up information from the localcommercial and/or civic entities (stores 320, restaurants 310, etc.).Mobile device 305 may wish to not only record that a Bluetoothinformation source was found, but what type of enterprise it is, andwhat they sell or what services they provide. For example the followinginfo could be recorded:

-   -   Restaurant: Location and any information about the menu that was        available.    -   Store: Type and some items for sale.

Later, the mobile device 305 user may want to query for a restaurant.The database on the mobile device 305 may be queried for any restaurantsthat were found nearby (and optionally for certain types of food).Further, other queries may be made for example for particular services,i.e., is there a nearby hospital having emergency services, is there anearby police station? In a similar implementation, the mobile devicemay be used in a shopping center or mall in which specific stores haveaccess to resources such as but not limited to advertising, salesinformation, store hours, and the like. The location of access to suchinformation may be stored in the database as described above.

While the detailed drawings, specific examples and particularformulations given describe preferred and exemplary embodiments, theyserve the purpose of illustration only. The inventions disclosed are notlimited to the specific forms shown. For example, the methods may beperformed in any of a variety of sequence of steps. The hardware andsoftware configurations shown and described may differ depending on thechosen performance characteristics and physical characteristics of thecomputing devices. For example, the type of computing device,communications bus, or processor used may differ. The systems andmethods depicted and described are not limited to the precise detailsand conditions disclosed. Furthermore, other substitutions,modifications, changes, and omissions may be made in the design,operating conditions, and arrangement of the exemplary embodimentswithout departing from the scope of the invention as expressed in theappended claims.

1. A mobile computing device, comprising: a wireless transceiverconfigured to communicate wirelessly with a database of geographic datafor a plurality of entities stored on a remote site; a displayconfigured to display a map; a user input device configured to receive aquery from a user; a processing circuit configured to query the databasebased on the query and a locality criteria, to receive geographic datafor one or more of the plurality of entities meeting the query and thelocality criteria, and to display the received geographic data on themap; wherein a plurality of wireless local area network access pointsare detected using the wireless transceiver, address data from each ofthe plurality of detected access points via the wireless transceiver isreceived, and the current location of the mobile computing device iscalculated using address data from each of the plurality of detectedaccess points; wherein the locality criteria comprises the currentlocation of the mobile computing device as determined by the mobilecomputing device based on the address data obtained from each of theplurality of detected access points; and wherein the query comprises atype characteristic of a point of interest.
 2. The mobile computingdevice of claim 1, wherein the geographic data comprises data forstores, restaurants and hospitals.
 3. The mobile computing device ofClaim 2, wherein the query comprises a plurality of criteria.
 4. Themobile computing device of claim 3, wherein at least one criteria is atype of food.
 5. The mobile computing device of claim 4, wherein thegeographic data for at least one of the entities meeting the criteriacomprises store hours.
 6. The mobile computing device of claim 5,further comprising a mobile telephony circuit.
 7. The mobile computingdevice of claim 6, further comprising a housing configured to be carriedin a hand during use.
 8. A computing device, comprising: a display; awireless transceiver configured to communicate with nearby wirelesslyenabled computing devices; a processing circuit configured to receivefrom each of the computing devices an address and information about thecomputing devices, to receive identifiers of data stored on thecomputing devices and to store the address and the information about thecomputing devices and the identifiers in a history database, and whereininformation obtained from the history database is used to control thedisplay to display an identifier of one of the computing devices and theidentifiers of the data stored on the computing device; and a user inputdevice configured to receive a user selection of data stored by thecomputing device.
 9. The computing device of claim 8, wherein theuser-selected data comprises a video file.
 10. The computing device ofclaim 8, wherein the user-selected data comprises an audio file.
 11. Thecomputing device of claim 8, wherein the wireless transceiver isconfigured to communicate with the networked computing devices using anIEEE 802.11 protocol.
 12. The computing device of claim 11, wherein thecomputing device is a portable, handheld computing device.
 13. Thecomputing device of claim 12, wherein the user input device comprises atouch screen, wherein the processing circuit is configured to operate acalendar application, a phone application, and an e-mail application,wherein the display is configured to provide a plurality of input iconsfor performing preprogrammed functions.
 14. The computing device ofclaim 8, wherein the wireless transceiver is configured to communicatewith a printer.
 15. The computing device of claim 8, wherein theinformation about the computing devices comprises a description of thecomputing devices.
 16. The computing device of claim 8, wherein thecomputing device is configured to use a service discovery protocol todiscover the networked computing devices.
 17. The computing device ofclaim 8, further comprising a mobile telephony circuit.
 18. Thecomputing device of claim 17, further comprising a housing configured tobe carried in a hand during use.
 19. The computing device of claim 8,wherein the address is an IP address.